Nicosia district court on Friday rejected former Volunteer Commissioner Yiannakis Yiannakis’ request to suspend his trial.
Yiannakis’ defence argued that his right to a fair trial and presumption of innocence were violated due to public statements made by officials and media treatment.
Defence attorney Giannis Polychronis cited European Court of Human Rights decisions, claiming public statements by political leaders prejudiced the case. “The political leadership of the country violated the presumption of innocence and presupposed the guilt of the accused,” the lawyer said, according to Reporter.
He highlighted remarks from former Disy president Averof Neofytou, who suggested that Yiannakis should be dismissed and called him a disgrace to society.
“There is currently no citizen who does not believe the accused is guilty,” Polychronis said.
In response, the prosecution, represented by Theodora Papakyriakou, countered that there was no legal basis for the request.
She argued that media coverage does not invalidate the trial and emphasised that only statements from public officials, not political figures, could potentially violate the presumption of innocence.
Addressing the defence’s claim of procedural abuse, Papakyriakou said “this case does not meet any criteria for termination. This should be examined at the end, not pre-emptively.”
The court concluded that the presumption of innocence is reinforced by the 2018 law ensuring fair trials. It determined that the defence’s concerns were raised prematurely and that media influence does not inherently render a trial unfair. As a result, the court found no grounds to suspend the proceedings and scheduled a new date to continue the trial.
Yiannakis, who served as volunteer commissioner under Nicos Anastasiades’ government, is on trial for forgery related to his high school diploma and university degree from the USA.
The forgery was revealed on May 26, 2021, by the Auditor General, but was filed in court a year later after police investigations.
Initially, Yiannakis faced 18 charges, but the Legal Service removed charges related to payments from the Youth Organisation (which he had headed), considering them earned wages.
As a result, on June 9, 2022, eight charges were filed, four for forgery and four for circulating forged documents, to which he pleaded not guilty.
